The lights are starting to flicker. Decorations are starting to appear. The shopping has begun. Favorite movies commemorating family, joy, and tradition are being advertised. December is upon us!
Happy holidays! Or, um, Merry X-mas! Wait, what? How about we enjoy a rich dark cup of coffee in a nondescript, red-paper-cup!
First: That whole Starbucks cup thing was, at best, a total misrepresentation of Christianity. At worst it was a holiday hoax perpetrated by anti-christian media. Maybe, and I know I’m going out on a limb here, maybe Starbucks just has an incredible advertising and marketing team.
Second: In the original language of the New Testament, Greek, the word for “Christ” is a word that begins with the Greek letter that is pretty much the exact same letter as the English letter X. So originally, Xmas was simply an abbreviation of the word Christmas. It was not a grand conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas.
Third: How about we develop a game-plan for having a wonderful, joyful, incredible, family holiday season?
Here are some suggestions to get you started…
- Forget about any supposed “war on Christmas”. Just celebrate with your family. Read the original story and rehearse the significance of Jesus’ birth together.
- Go ahead and wish people a very Merry Christmas. Even people whose nick-name may very well be “scrooge”.
- Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). This is a great time of the year to share God’s love and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Pray that Christians in general will focus on things that matter. Pray that we would be peaceful warriors in the culture war!
Pastor Clegguart Mitchell 